This is a topic that most talk shows and news outlets just love. It has all the makings of a juicy story; race, education, mother protecting her children, it’s all in there. The problem with this story, or should I say the responses to this story, is the oversimplification of much broader issues. Most of the callers today made it an issue about Black vs White. If she hadda been white… Typical oversimplified responses. Other callers simply ignored relevant facts about this case by saying she was targeted by the school district. The fact that 100 other people faced the same charges at the same time this mother did from the school district was somehow overlooked. And then my favorite comment was “they even hired a private detective to go after this poor woman”. How else was the school district going to prove their case in court since the mother said she was not guilty of the charges and wanted a jury trial. It a tactic used by insurance companies all the time to investigate possible cases of fraud. And, its legal.

No doubt there has certainly been a lot of public outcry pertaining to this case. My question is simply this, where was all this outrage 1 year ago, 2 years ago, five years ago, when the school and neighborhood this mother lived is was deteriorating? This should be the real focus of concern. Naw, can’t have that. That would put too much accountability and responsibility on the people who live in that neighborhood to be concerned about high rates of crime. To be ever vigilant about ensuring their schools are just as good if not better than the schools “across town” so that cases like this one would not happen in the first place. Its called being PROACTIVE! I know, that’s asking too much of them. It s much easier to go with the flow and then REACT when a situation likes this comes along. Sadly, I get that.